Avero's Logbook - Explained
Available in: All subscription levels
This article is your place for all things Logbook! It will help direct you to the resources available to start a new logbook, edit an existing one, or update the distribution.
Jump to:
- What is Logbook?
- Where do I find ... in Logbook?
- Logbook Setup
- Making Changes - Edit an existing logbook
- Removing a Logbook or Logbook email
- Transfer ownership of the logbook email to another user
- Logbook FAQ
What is Logbook?
Logbook is the most popular Avero feature! It is a daily touchpoint for thousands of Avero users - it is a one-stop-shop containing shift notes, a snapshot of yesterday's sales, and some extra context like weather and events that may have impacted the day. The logbook can be configured and customized to your needs and set up to send to a set of users daily.
Access to Logbook is managed by the Team a user is on, Logbook must be checked for users on the team to be able to access Logbook. Any user with access can read, write, and send the logbooks for businesses they have access to.
Access to Logbook Setup & Management is restricted only to users with the Logbook Setup Special Role enabled. This is because the responsibility of setting up and updating the Logbook's configuration may fall to different users than just admin users, and especially large organizations may want to further control who can make edits.
Where do I find ... in Logbook?
In this section, we will define logbook terms and show you where to access different portions of the logbook for updates.
Logbook Terms
- Logbook - A logbook is a per-business page for shift notes, sales, checklists, and events to be viewed in one place. Properties that have multiple outlets can have a 'Property' logbook that links several outlets. A business/outlet can only have one logbook.
- Logbook Special Role - in order to access the setup & management portion of logbook you'll need to have a special role enabled. Special roles are permissions that are designated to individual users and have nothing to do with whether you are an admin user or not, it simply restricts access to the setup and management of certain features, such as logbook. Read more about special roles here: Special Roles Explained
- Template - The template is a logbook page that can be customized to your needs. This is the form that creates the structure of the logbook and includes your Snapshot, Customizable fields and checklists, and multiple sections if desired. A logbook can only have one template applied but a template can have many sections.
- Section - A distinct area of the logbook template. Each Section comes with an automatic Snapshot. Sections have their own titles and can be individually selected to include or omit from a logbook email.
- Field - a portion of a Section. A field can be an area to enter specific notes (text entry field) or a checkbox field for checklists and tasks. Each field has its own title. Including a section
- Snapshot - A revenue summary automatically added for every section. If you don't need multiple revenue summaries, instead of adding another section, add a field instead. Each Snapshot can be configured to filter revenue differently for your needs, such as by meal period or revenue center.
User Map - Logbook
User Map - Logbook Setup
User Map - Logbook Email Setup
Logbook Setup
Full article: Logbook Admin: Logbook Management
Activating a new Logbook
Before logbook pages for a particular logbook are visible to any users, the logbook must be activated.
Navigate to Settings > Logbook (if Logbook is not listed under your Settings menu, you need your admin to add the Logbook Special Role)
To activate a logbook, complete the following steps:
- Click the toggle under the Active column in the Logbook Management table.
- You must assign a template to the logbook.
Try our tutorial on setting up logbook! Open another tab in your browser, log in to Avero, and click this link to launch the tutorial: Launch Logbook Setup Pop-Up Guide
Scheduling a daily logbook email
Scheduling a daily logbook email is very easy. Whichever user creates the daily logbook email will be the only one that can edit it in the future, so make sure you know who you want that to be before setting up the email.
To schedule and send a daily email, complete the following steps:
- Navigate to the Logbook, click on the envelope icon, and select Manage Emails
- From here, you can create, view, or edit scheduled daily emails
- If creating your first scheduled email, you will need to click the Schedule a Daily Email button to create a new scheduled email. To create an additional scheduled email, click the plus button located above the email selection list
- From here, configure the desired email structure to send daily
Try our tutorial on setting up logbook emails! Open another tab in your browser, log in to Avero, and click this link to launch the tutorial: Admins: Create Logbook Email
Creating a New Template
Just getting started? See our walkthrough: Create Your First Logbook Template
Navigate to Settings > Logbook to create a template. (If Logbook does not appear in your settings menu, you do not have the special role, contact your admin user to have it added).
- Click Create New Template on the Templates tab
- You can also create a new template when activating a logbook or changing the template assigned to a logbook.
- A new template starts with one section. You must name the template and section.
- Save the template.
- Then, add additional sections and fields and delete sections and fields (as needed) from this template.
Making Changes - Edit an existing logbook
Logbooks are completely configurable and fields can be totally customized! As your business changes, you may want to update your existing logbook to track different things or add more functionality to it.
Logbook Updates - Revenue
See the FAQ on logbook revenue: My Revenue is not showing in Logbook, how can I fix this?
Each section of the logbook automatically includes a Snapshot, or a daily sales summary. Snapshots display revenue for the date of the logbook along with some historical touchpoints, such as Same Day Last Year or Same Day Last Week. If the revenue doesn't appear correctly in your logbook, it is usually due to the filters used in the Snapshot.
To view/edit the snapshot filters go to Settings > Logbook (requires access to this special role) and select the template in use to view.
If the filters are set to All that means all revenue for that business will display. If they are set to Custom or designate a meal period or revenue center, then the revenue is being filtered. Note that templates are designed for use across many businesses, so only the 'Standard' meal periods and revenue centers are available for filtering - you will not see the specific names you have in your POS (for example you won't see Bar XYZ and Restaurant ABC, but Bar and All Dining).
Clear to show All Revenue
By clicking Clear you will set the snapshot to receive all revenue for this business.
If you would like to filter your revenue, but are unsure of which standard meal periods and revenue centers to use, run a category sales report for Actual revenue centers/meal periods, then for Standard and compare to identify. If revenue is reporting to the wrong standard rvc, you can request changes by opening a ticket with Avero Support.
Available Standard Revenue Centers:
Multiple Actual revenue centers can be applied to the same Standard revenue center. These are typically mapped when you are installed but can be changed by opening a ticket with Avero Support. If you have added new revenue centers, you may need to request that they be mapped.
- All Dining (this is a distinct RVC, not a summary of all dining outlets)
- Banquet
- Bar
- Cafe
- Casino
- Pool
- Retail
- Room Service
- Seasonal
- Unknown / Other
Available Standard Meal Periods:
Multiple Actual meal periods can be applied to the same Standard meal period. These are typically mapped when you are installed but can be changed by opening a ticket with Avero Support. If you have added new meal periods, you may need to request that they be mapped.
- All Day (this is a distinct meal period, not a summary of daytime meal periods)
- All Night (this is a distinct meal period, not a summary of nighttime meal periods)
- Breakfast
- Brunch
- Lunch
- Dinner/Swing
- Late Night
- Unknown
How can I check my current Standard RVCs in use?
This is easily done by running a quick Avero report. Open the Sales by Meal Period report and set the RVC filter to 'Standard' to view where revenue is currently going.
Why don't I see data for my new RVC or Meal Period in Logbook?
When a new revenue center or meal period is created, there will be a one-day delay before revenue flows to logbook for it. Logbook will only populate for known RVCs and Meal Periods, so the first date data is received for a new one, it is added to the list available and the second day data is received to it, it will go through to the logbook.
If you are looking for a NEW rvc or meal period's data and do not see it, wait a day and you should see it reflected. If you don't update your filters or request it be mapped to one of the above standards.
Can I customize the Logbook sales snapshot to include specific metrics?
Each section in your logbook automatically includes a data snapshot for the day's sales - this can be filtered to specific revenue centers or meal periods, but the included metrics cannot be manipulated or customized. The logbook is a helpful place to combine shift notes and context with high-level sales information and a historical touchpoint - like Same Day Last Week or Same Day Last Year.
To customize or configure the sales information you need, turn to your sales reporting and analytics options in Aero! Your Avero reports are available to provide you with addition insight in how your business is operating and can be set up to be emailed daily, weekly or monthly and these reports can be configured and scheduled according to your business needs. You can also setup a dashboard(s) to view multiple saved reports on a single page upon logging in, like a Daily Sales Report.
Logbook Updates - Fields, Notes, Checklists
If you want to change the configuration of your logbook, you'll need to edit the template. To access templates you'll need to have the Logbook Setup role enabled for your user.
Full instructions:
Navigate to Settings > Logbook to edit a template. (If Logbook does not appear in your settings menu, you do not have the special role, contact your admin user to have it added). You
You can see the template currently assigned listed next to the name of your business/outlet. Click View to look at that template or Change to switch that logbook to a different template.
When viewing an existing template, users can make the following changes:
- edit template, section, and field names
- add sections and fields
- delete sections and fields
- reorder sections and fields
- apply snapshot filters
The image below shows a sample template configuration on the left and the resulting logbook on the right.
Removing a Logbook or Logbook email
If you need to delete/remove a logbook or logbook email this is easily done! Logbook emails are created and managed by users. Only the user that creates a logbook email can edit or remove it. If the user that created the logbook email is no longer with your restaurant, when you delete their user it will automatically discontinue the logbook.
Who created the logbook email?
If you are unsure who created the logbook email and need to request changes, scroll to the bottom of the logbook email you received and you will see their name listed as the Unsubscribe contact:
Deleting Templates
To delete a template within Logbook, navigate to the Templates tab and complete the following steps:
- Click the menu button in the Actions column of the Template Management table.
- Click the Delete option.
Deactivating Logbooks
To deactivate the logbook, complete the following steps:
- Click the toggle under the Active column in the Logbook Management table.
- Upon deactivating, the assigned template is automatically unassigned from the logbook.
Please Note: Deactivating a logbook does not delete historical logbook entries, and users can re-activate the logbook to view past entries.
Transfer ownership of the logbook email to another user
It is not possible to transfer an existing logbook email to another user. Instead, the new user needs to set up a new logbook email that they will manage moving forward. Follow the instructions in Creating Logbook Emails to create a new one, the old user should then delete their logbook email or the logbook email will automatically be discontinued if that user is removed.
For more information about Logbook, visit our How-To section or FAQ on Logbook: